Help diagnose a problem...
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
From: Bay Area
W211 E63
Help diagnose a problem...
Hi everyone,
Was wondering if you can help me diagnose a problem with my E63 with P30. Recently, the car started to pull right and I can feel a slight shimmy/vibration from the front wheels that wasn’t there before. Kind of feeling like the wheel is not planted. Been doing normal driving and running over some unavoidable potholes and bumps on the road. Car is at 32K miles with new PS2 with 1800 miles on it. Below is what had transpired…
1.Took it to my mechanic and he found cracked bushings at the lower control arms. He said this was a warrantable item and could be causing the problem. We visually checked the wheel/tire, put them on the balancer and found no abnormalities.
2.Took it to the dealer and the tech found no damages to the bushings at all. Did a test drive on a relative smooth road and the tech can’t feel any abnormal vibration. He said the pull to the right was normal and wasn’t bad at all. We checked the wheel/tire again and no signs of damage. He showed me some bad bushings and mine are not even showing any signs of deteriorating. He said to drive it for a while and see what happens.
3.I drove it for couple more days and now for some reason, the pull to the right has lessened, but the vibration/uneasiness is still there.
So, is it common to have different interpretations of how bad a bushing is? The dealer tech said if it was damaged and cracked, it would had leaked fluids and would be apparent sound wise when going over bumps. Is it just me being paranoid or are there damages to the tire/wheel a balancer can’t detect? Thanks in advance.
Was wondering if you can help me diagnose a problem with my E63 with P30. Recently, the car started to pull right and I can feel a slight shimmy/vibration from the front wheels that wasn’t there before. Kind of feeling like the wheel is not planted. Been doing normal driving and running over some unavoidable potholes and bumps on the road. Car is at 32K miles with new PS2 with 1800 miles on it. Below is what had transpired…
1.Took it to my mechanic and he found cracked bushings at the lower control arms. He said this was a warrantable item and could be causing the problem. We visually checked the wheel/tire, put them on the balancer and found no abnormalities.
2.Took it to the dealer and the tech found no damages to the bushings at all. Did a test drive on a relative smooth road and the tech can’t feel any abnormal vibration. He said the pull to the right was normal and wasn’t bad at all. We checked the wheel/tire again and no signs of damage. He showed me some bad bushings and mine are not even showing any signs of deteriorating. He said to drive it for a while and see what happens.
3.I drove it for couple more days and now for some reason, the pull to the right has lessened, but the vibration/uneasiness is still there.
So, is it common to have different interpretations of how bad a bushing is? The dealer tech said if it was damaged and cracked, it would had leaked fluids and would be apparent sound wise when going over bumps. Is it just me being paranoid or are there damages to the tire/wheel a balancer can’t detect? Thanks in advance.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
From: Bay Area
W211 E63
We did check to see if the wheel/tire was still balanced. The tires looked fine. This is why it is puzzling to me that I'm feeling the vibration if the bushings are fine and the wheels are balanced. I guess another way of putting it is that you feel the car's suspension is constantly working (like going over small bumps) even on a very smooth road surface.
